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Yahoo
17-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Organizers of Taiwan marathon apologize over trophies shaped like a Chinese machine gun
HONG KONG — Organizers of a military-linked marathon in southern Taiwan have apologized after handing out trophies in the shape of a Chinese machine gun, which drew backlash as the Beijing-claimed island comes under growing pressure from China. The prizes from the Fengshan Marathon near the major city of Kaohsiung were strongly criticized over the weekend because of their close resemblance to the QBZ-95, a Chinese-developed assault rifle used by the People's Liberation Army of China. China sees the self-governing democracy of Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out using force to achieve its unification goal. The ruling Chinese Communist Party, which came to power in 1949, has never controlled Taiwan, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. The trophies were gun-themed because the route ran through multiple military facilities affiliated with Taiwan's National Defense Ministry. Hsu Chih-chieh, a legislator from Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party whose office co-hosted the race, said it was an 'oversight' of the organizers to model the trophies after a nondomestic military firearm. 'We have requested an immediate recall and apologize for the inconvenience,' Hsu said in a Facebook post Sunday. 'Future events will be handled with greater caution.' The Kaohsiung City Fengshan Jogging Association, another organizer of the event, also issued an apology but said the trophy design choice was made with 'aesthetics in mind.' 'Given the association of the military with rifles, we opted for a rifle-shaped trophy instead of a traditional one, with no other special intention behind,' the association said in a statement on Facebook. The association said it has already contacted the manufacturer and will 'proactively' reach out to the award recipients to offer to replace their trophies. 'We also urge individuals with ulterior motives to refrain from spreading unfounded accusations and labeling the event,' it added. The National Defense Ministry said it had agreed to provide access to the facilities. 'When supporting similar events in the future, we will proactively remind the organizers to pay attention to related matters to avoid similar incidents from happening again,' it said in a statement. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment Monday. In recent years, Taiwan has come under growing military and other pressure from China, which sends warplanes and naval vessels toward the island almost daily. On Monday, the National Defense Ministry said it had detected 26 Chinese military planes around Taiwan since 6:40 a.m., including 20 that crossed the median line that had previously served as an unofficial buffer in the Taiwan Strait. Last month, the Chinese military carried out a 'joint combat readiness patrol' about 40 nautical miles off Taiwan that included live-fire drills, which the island criticized as provocative and dangerous. China says its military actions are 'necessary, legitimate and just measures' to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. 'They are a resolute response to external forces' deliberate indulgence and support of 'Taiwan independence' activities,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday at a regular briefing in Beijing. Mao also said the United States, which has no official relations with Taiwan but is the island's most important international backer, had 'taken a series of misguided actions on the Taiwan issue,' including by amending a State Department website last month to remove the phrase 'we do not support Taiwan independence.' China also responded angrily last week to a joint statement by top diplomats from the Group of Seven nations, which includes the U.S., that condemned 'coercion' against Taiwan and omitted the typical reference to G7 members' 'one China' policies, under which they recognize Beijing as the only legitimate government of China. The G7 statements 'ignore facts and China's solemn position, grossly interfere in China's internal affairs, and blatantly smear China,' a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement Friday. Last week, Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te called China a 'foreign hostile force' and proposed 17 countermeasures against what he called Beijing's influence campaign, including strict review of applications by Chinese nationals to visit and live in Taiwan, and the reinstatement of military courts. In response, China — which considers Lai a separatist and has rebuffed his offer of talks — called Lai a 'destroyer of cross-strait peace' and 'creator of crises in the Taiwan Strait.' 'We warn the Lai Ching-te administration sternly: Those who play with fire will get burned,' Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Thursday. 'Anyone who engages in 'Taiwan independence' separatism will end up shattered to pieces.' This article was originally published on
NBC News
17-03-2025
- Politics
- NBC News
Organizers of Taiwan marathon apologize over trophies shaped like a Chinese machine gun
HONG KONG — Organizers of a military-linked marathon in southern Taiwan have apologized after handing out trophies in the shape of a Chinese machine gun. The prizes from the Fengshan Marathon near the major city of Kaohsiung drew backlash over the weekend because of their close resemblance to the QBZ-95, a Chinese-developed assault rifle used by the People's Liberation Army of China. China sees self-governing Taiwan as a breakaway province and has not ruled out using force to achieve its unification goal. The ruling Chinese Communist Party, which came to power in 1949, has never controlled Taiwan, which rejects Beijing's sovereignty claims. The trophies were gun-themed because the route ran through multiple military facilities affiliated with Taiwan's Ministry of National Defense. Hsu Chih-chieh, a legislator from Taiwan's governing Democratic Progressive Party whose office co-hosted the race, said it was an 'oversight' of the organizers to model the trophies after a non-domestic military firearm. 'We have requested an immediate recall and apologize for the inconvenience,' Hsu said in a Faceb o ok post on Sunday. 'Future events will be handled with greater caution.' The Kaohsiung City Fengshan Jogging Association, another organizer of the event, also issued an apology but said the trophy design choice was made with 'aesthetics in mind.' 'Given the association of the military with rifles, we opted for a rifle-shaped trophy instead of a traditional one, with no other special intention behind,' the association said in a statement on Facebook. The association said it has already contacted the manufacturer and will 'proactively' reach out to the award recipients to offer to replace their trophies. 'We also urge individuals with ulterior motives to refrain from spreading unfounded accusations and labeling the event,' it added. The Ministry of National Defense said it had agreed to provide access to the facilities. 'When supporting similar events in the future, we will proactively remind the organizers to pay attention to related matters to avoid similar incidents from happening again,' the ministry said in a statement. The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a faxed request for comment on Monday. In recent years Taiwan has come under growing military and other pressure from China, which sends warplanes and naval vessels toward the island almost daily. On Monday, the Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military planes around Taiwan since 6:40 a.m., including 20 that crossed the median line that had previously served as an unofficial buffer in the Taiwan Strait. Last month, the Chinese military carried out a 'joint combat readiness patrol' about 40 nautical miles off Taiwan that included live-fire drills, which the island criticized as provocative and dangerous. China says its military actions are 'necessary, legitimate and just measures' to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity. 'They are a resolute response to external forces' deliberate indulgence and support of 'Taiwan independence' activities,' Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said Monday at a regular briefing in Beijing. Mao also said the United States, which has no official relations with Taiwan but is the island's most important international backer, had 'taken a series of misguided actions on the Taiwan issue,' including by amending a State Department website last month to remove the phrase 'we do not support Taiwan independence.' China also responded angrily last week to a joint statement by top diplomats from the Group of 7 nations, which includes the U.S., that condemned 'coercion' against Taiwan and omitted the typical reference to G7 members' 'one China' policies, under which they recognize Beijing as the only legitimate government of China. The G7 statements 'ignore facts and China's solemn position, grossly interfere in China's internal affairs, and blatantly smear China,' a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Canada said in a statement on Friday. Last week, Taiwan President Lai Ching-te called China a 'foreign hostile force' and proposed 17 countermeasures against what he called Beijing's influence campaign, including strict review of applications by Chinese nationals to visit and live in Taiwan, and the reinstatement of military courts. In response, China — which considers Lai a separatist and has rebuffed his offer of talks — called Lai a 'destroyer of cross-strait peace' and 'creator of crises in the Taiwan Strait.' 'We warn the Lai Ching-te administration sternly: Those who play with fire will get burned,' Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said Thursday. 'Anyone who engages in 'Taiwan independence' separatism will end up shattered to pieces.'
New York Times
14-02-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
China Says U.S. Should Lead Trump's Proposed Arms Control Effort
China said Friday that the United States should take the lead in the reduction of nuclear weapons and military spending, after President Trump proposed working with China and Russia on these issues. Mr. Trump had told reporters on Thursday in the Oval Office that he would like to hold talks with both China's top leader, Xi Jinping, and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia about 'slowing down, stopping and reducing nuclear weapons.' 'There's no reason for us to be building brand-new nuclear weapons,' he said. 'We already have so many you can destroy the world 50 times over, 100 times over.' He also said he would urge the countries to commit to slashing their respective military budgets by half. In response, Guo Jiakun, a spokesman for China's foreign ministry, depicted China as a much smaller player among nuclear powers, compared to the United States. 'As countries with the largest nuclear arsenals, the United States and Russia should earnestly fulfill their special priority responsibilities for nuclear disarmament,' Mr. Guo said at a regular news briefing. Mr. Guo noted that the United States had the largest military budget in the world, and, therefore, 'should set an example in reducing military expenditure.' The U.S. Department of Defense estimates China has more than 600 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and is on pace to have over 1,000 by 2030. By comparison, the United States and Russia each has more than 5,000 nuclear warheads. Ever since China detonated its first atomic bomb in 1964, Beijing has said that it would never initiate a nuclear strike unless it came under nuclear attack first — what it calls its 'no first use' policy for deploying nuclear weapons. But China's expanding and increasingly varied nuclear arsenal has fed skepticism among U.S. policymakers about whether Beijing is committed to its stated policy. China's nuclear buildup also gives its leaders more ways to deter and threaten China's rivals. Beijing has resisted nuclear arms talks with Washington because it does not want to agree to any controls before it has expanded and modernized its arsenal to the point where it feels it can confidently deter the United States, according to studies both in China and overseas. Still, Mr. Guo said Beijing was 'willing to work with all parties' to support multilateral arms control through the United Nations. Mr. Guo did not directly address Mr. Trump's call to cut military spending by half, saying only that China's military budget was 'relatively low' compared to the United States. Some Chinese analysts said that instead of focusing on arms control, Mr. Trump should also adopt a 'no first use' nuclear policy. 'Given the situation in Ukraine and people's worry about potential use of nuclear weapons, the priority right now in nuclear disarmament is not to reduce nuclear warheads, but to prevent countries from using nuclear weapons first,' said Zhou Bo, a retired senior colonel in the People's Liberation Army of China who is now a senior fellow at the Center for International Security and Strategy at Tsinghua University in Beijing.
